Can a Petroleum Engineer afford to live in Denver?

Excellent65% of take-home left to save — you can save aggressively here.
Median salary (gross)
Petroleum Engineer · Denver
$160,665
Income tax (~33% effective)
United States
– $52,783
Take-home pay
$8,990/mo
$107,882
Living costs (1 person)
$3,190/mo · derived
– $38,280
Savings potential
$5,800/mo · 65% of take-home
$69,602

Single professional, after-tax. Salary − tax − living costs = what you could save each year.

Full salary breakdown →Is this a good salary in Denver? →Compare Denver with another city →

How we calculated this

• Salary: BLS OES median for Petroleum Engineer, adjusted for Denver.

• Tax: United States single-filer effective rate (~33%). Official calculator.

• Living costs: derived from cost-of-living index for a single professional.

Planning estimates, not financial or tax advice. Updated 2026. Your situation will differ.